Holidays Past
by WickedWitch1313
Summary: What with Severus never going home for the holidays and Petunia's increasing animosity toward Lily, Severus and Lily spend their second year Christmas Holidays together at Hogwarts.
1. Bullies and Corridors

_A/N: New Story! As per usual, I own none of the characters nor Hogwarts. Okay, so this story I plan to make no more than three chapters. It is a short story, I realize. The next chapter will be much, much longer, however so fret not. _

_This story is set during Lily and Severus' second year. Enjoy_

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"Sev! Sev! Hey, Sev!" Lily called running down the Hogwarts corridor after the pallid Slytherin.

"Sev, wait up!" She called again, panting as she reached him.

Severus looked up at her, startled. A smile blossomed on his face.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" She asked sparing an odd look at his oblivious expression.

Severus realized faintly that she had asked him a question. He wrinkled his brow, searching for the question his subconscious had surely heard. Finally after a moment of no luck he looked up, "Er… what?"

Lily laughed, pushing against his shoulder. Severus grimaced, massaging the assaulted spot on his arm. "Ah, Mr. Snape. Whatever shall we do with you?"

Severus smirked, "Well, _Ms. Evans_, you could write me over break."

Lily stopped walking. It was as if a flame had extinguished within her. "You're not staying at Hogwarts?"

She sounded so hurt, her eyes running over his face in search of an answer to her predicament.

"Of course I'm staying. Why would I go home? Certainly not to spend quality time with my loving father." He added bitterly.

Lily beamed at him. Without a moment's hesitation, she threw her arms around him, embracing him tightly. "Oh, Sev, I'm so excited. I'm staying too! Oh, I was so worried. I thought for a moment that you were going home and that I'd be all alone," She paused, pouting slightly at the idea before her smile came back, "But you will be after all. We're going to have such a holiday, Sev!"

"Well, well, well… Look what we have here: Snivellus Snape and a lovely princess. Hey, Evans, didn't McGonagall tell you that kissing frogs won't get you a prince?" James Potter said cockily, flicking his hair across his face as he and the rest of the marauders rounded the corridor.

Lily broke off the hug, leaving Severus very much angry at the boys.

"James Potter, you ignorant snot-cloth, leave us alone!"

James smirked, "Ooh, boys, hear that? She wants to be _alone_ with Snivellus!" Sirius scoffed into his laughter and Peter squeaked excitedly. Remus, however, did not laugh.

"C'mon, James, let's go…" He started.

"No, Moony. I think we need t solve a problem here. Isn't he always telling me to solve my problems, Padfoot?"

"He sure is," grinned Sirius.

Severus stepped away from the Marauders, taking Lily with him. His eyes flicked over the group warily.

"No, no, no, not so fast, Snivellus!" James called. With a flick of his wand, Severus was lifted into the air.

"James Potter, you _put him down_!" Lily shrieked with such force that James lost the spell. Severus fell to the ground with a stifled moan.

"What is going on here?" Minerva McGonagall demanded as she exited her office just down the hall.

When she spotted the Marauders, Lily and Severus, she immediately knew what had come to pass. "Mr. Potter, a word. The rest of you return to your common rooms." She looked pointedly at the remaining Marauders and, with a last glace at the fallen Severus, she escorted James to her office.

Sirius led the rest off, shouting insults and comments at Severus as he left. Once the troupe was out of sight, Lily crouched by Severus, helping him up and dusting off parts of his robes.

"Sev, they're just being—"

"Forget it." He said his voice steely. Lily didn't push it. She knew he hated having her stand up for him. She knew he felt like a coward. And, despite his constant reassurances that he far preferred brilliance to brawn, she also knew he despised feeling like a coward.

They walked in silence for a few minutes more. It was the afternoon; they each had one more class until the holidays. "So… potions today, right?" Lily asked nonchalantly.

Severus glanced over at her. "Yes. With the Slytherins."

"My favorite kind!" She added, happily causing Severus to smile the tiniest bit.

No one else could make him admit things like her. No one else could melt his icy walls when he chose to put them up. It was lovely, she thought, to have such a good friend. She felt like a superhero rescuing him, only, she'd never admit that to him. She couldn't imagine how hurt he'd be to be seen as the damsel in distress in her eyes.

Shaking off the thoughts, Lily jumped up, ahead of Severus, humming happily. He watched her skip around, a smirk on his face. When she noticed him watching, she stopped. "What?"

Severus shook his head, still smiling, "C'mon, Evans, let's get you to class."

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_A/N 2: James Potter is sort of a nasty piece of work... at least until his 7th year, he was. It was sort of hard to write this because most of the pieces where you see Lily interacting with others, she's mature and a genius and all that rot. I had to go over Snape's memories from book 7 to ensure I had her attitude right. If I didn't quite get it right, please do tell. I much prefer to have my characters in character than not. Review!_


	2. Christmas Holidays

_A/N: Two down: one to go. I hope you like this story so far. This chapter is a bit more fluffy than not but I think it's fun. Enjoy._

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Severus blinked, his eyesight clouded from sleep. He looked up at the rich velvet hangings of his bed as he struggled to regain his thoughts. As consciousness slowly returned to him, he became aware of the soft cushion of his bed, the silky feeling of his pillow on his face. He could feel the stinging cold air meet his face in a breeze caused by an open window. Severus sat up, only to regret his action soon after. It was bloody freezing! Who opens a window in the middle of winter? His eyes widened. He shot up and out of the bed, ignoring the frigid air as he hopped around to get his robes on. Without a second's pause, he shoved his feet into his shoes, snatched up his wand from the side table and ran down the stairs, taking three at a time. It was winter holidays!

He came to a tumbling stop at the bottom of the stairs. An irritable fifth year spared him a look of disdain, straightening his robes before walking off to sit away from the riffraff. For once, though, Severus didn't care what the other students of his house thought; he was far too preoccupied with the matter at hand. Hurriedly, he ran through the portrait hole and up the dank stone corridors of the dungeons. He reached the main floor, dashing madly to the Great Hall. He heard a teacher bark some sort of admonition to him but he paid them no heed. Only as he neared the doors of the Great Hall did he slow down. He stopped, panting heavily. He started up again once he figured he was descent, forcing himself to keep a calm, steady pace. He passed the doors and elation flooded through him. The normal four tables were gone from sight, Dumbledore having apparently preferred to downgrade after noting how few students were staying over the holidays. As he entered the Hall, he spotted her. She was at the far end, right across from Professor Dumbledore himself. Severus grimaced slightly. He was sure Dumbledore didn't trust him. Just as he began to debate returning to the common rooms, Lily spotted him. She stood up, off the bench, waving her hands to beckon him over. Dumbledore turned a knowing sparkle in his eye while McGonagall gave the girl a disapproving glance at her misconduct. He was stuck. He couldn't leave now; he couldn't do that to her. He trudged on over fighting his urges to drag his feet.

Once he reached the table, Lily sat down, "Sev, where have you been? I beginning to worry you'd left for home after all."

"No," he said smiling, doing his best to ignore Dumbledore's presence, "No, I'm here. Someone left the window open in our dormitory. It was freezing."

"If you were freezing why didn't you get up and come to the real world, where it's warm?"

"The real world?" Severus looked at her, confused.

"You know, not in the dungeons." Lily smirked in receiving a scoff from him. Dumbledore chuckled, serving himself another treacle tart.

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"Sev, what do you want to do when you get out of school?" Lily asked him. A soft flow of air played with the tendrils of her hair, stirring the air with the scents of her shampoo.

Severus lowered his potions book and contemplated the question. Lily looked up from her lounged position on the library bench, "I mean we have to start choosing our electives for our upper years. What d'you want to take?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind arithmancy or ancient runes though, to be honest, I've no clue what I'd do with that knowledge." He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I never really thought about it. I was just so focused on this year you know? I know I'm going to do potions even when we don't have to."

Lily nodded solemnly. "Yes, Professor Snape: the Potion's Master. That has a nice ring; I think you should stick with it."

Severus pushed lightly against her as she started to laugh. "Funny. No, I'd much rather teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can't even imagine trying to teach potions to a bunch of ungrateful blunder heads. Defense though, that's something that everyone can do. Or, at least, with the proper training."

They sat there silently a while longer, she absentmindedly fiddling with the edge of her robes and he reading his textbook avidly. It wasn't long, however, before Madame Pince was lurking over to tell them the library was closing and it was time for bed.

"Goodnight, _Professor_," Lily laughed as she headed one way toward the Gryffindor common room.

She had rounded the corner and disappeared from sight when he replied, "Goodnight, Lily."

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Severus spluttered as the cold, wet substance hit him squarely in the back of the head. The icy liquid slid down his neck and back. He slowly turned. Lily Evans was doubled over in laughter, her hands wet from the ball of snow she had just thrown at him. He huffed, blowing a lock of hair from his face. If she wanted to play that way…

Shhhlappp! Another snow ball hit him, this time in the face. Severus spit out a mouthful of snow irritably. "Will you _stop_ that!"

Lily looked at him, highly amused.

Severus took advantage of her moment's pause by throwing his ammunition at her and quickly ducking behind an oak tree in order to avoid retribution. He smirked, delighting in her noise of protest.

"Severus Snape, you picked the wrong Gryffindor to throw a snow ball at!"

Disoriented with their laughter, the second years ran about the grounds chucking snowballs at one another. More often than not, they missed, hitting odd ends of the castle. Once they hit what they knew to be Minerva McGonagall's window, Severus dove to the ground, taking Lily with him. He pressed a finger to her lips. Both of them attempted to stifle their furious laughter. When the angry Scottish lecture ceased and they heard the tell-tale click of the Professor's window, they knew it was safe to speak once more.

"Nice aim there, Evans." Severus teased, brushing the snow from his robes and offering her a hand.

Lily gaped at him, playfully smacking his arm. "It was _your_ snowball!"

"Yes, but as I recall _you_ were the one to bewitch it in that direction."

"Oh, shut up."

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"Oh, Severus! I love it!" Lily gasped, removing the delicate necklace from it's wrapping. The ornament was simple; a silver chain with a amethyst stone pendant. She held it up to the light, admireing the glint. "Would you—?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure." He said, standing up to clasp the necklace around her neck. For the faintest of moments, he lingered there. Then, his face flushed and he coughed awkwardly, moving away.

"I got something for you too, you know." Lily said when he returned to his seat at the table. She pulled out a parcel from her bag. It was rectangular, heavy. He took it, warily. Lily beamed at her friend as he examined the gift. He looked at her once before tearing off the paper. It was a book. Severus looked down at the new copy of _Prominent Potions Invented in the Last Three Centuries_ by Bubbillus Haffnattcht. "I was looking for this!" He exclaimed, smiling openly at her. "I asked Madame Pince to place an order for it but she said the budget was bad enough…" He looked up at her, "Thanks, Lily."

"Sure thing, Sev." She answered, beaming at him in return.

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Severus was in another one of his moods. He pushed his food around his plate aimlessly with his fork. Lily glanced over at him, frowning slightly. Well this wouldn't do. Leaning over to him, Lily whispered to him, "Penny for your thoughts, _professor_?"

Severus looked at her glumly. He muttered something under his breath. Lily scowled at him.

"I would venture to say that our Mr. Snape is lamenting his holidays before they are over." Dumbledore said casually, offering Lily some chicken.

Severus shot his headmaster an irritated look. Lily peered quizzically at him. "Why would you worry about that, Sev? You've already finished all your work and you just told me earlier that you can't wait for classes to start back up."

Dumbledore was watching him over his spectacles, Severus could feel it. He fought the instinctual urge to return the look. Instead he shrugged to Lily. She was not impressed. "Sev, what is it?" He did not respond for the second time. "Is it James, Severus?" she asked softly.

"No. Why would it be?" He snapped.

Lily was undeterred. "Because it's been so nice to not have him around, I thought perhaps you were unhappy that we'll have to see him tomorrow."

Severus softened. He shook his head gently, "I'm just… this has been the greatest Christmas of my life. I can't help but assume that anymore that could follow will only get worse."

Lily chuckled lightly. "Oh c'mon, Sev. You, me, Christmas. What could ever go downhill with a combination like that?"

Severus felt the corner of his mouth quirk up in one of the smiles she could easily get out of him.

Yes, it was a heavenly combination indeed. He would never forget this Christmas, even were it to happen that every year following were ten times better. No, he would remember this because for the first time, he was truly happy.

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_A/N 2: Well, thar ya go. I hope you liked it. Review!_


	3. Pictures of Remorse

_A/N: Obviously this one is shorter than the rest however, I find all the more pertinent. Enjoy._

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Severus sat in the dark room, remembering the holiday he swore never to forget. Even as the tears streamed down his face, he could not deny the happiness he had felt. It was hard to admit that after all this time that single memory; that one holiday stuck out among all that they had shared thereafter. Of course, it all had ended their sixth year… Why hadn't it worked for them? Why did he have to ruin it the way he did? Sure, he knew she never felt the same way he did but that was no reason for their friendship to dissolve. If only that James Potter hadn't…

_Hadn't what?_ His conscious shouted at him, w_hat had he done to you that wasn't normal—normal for him at least?_ Severus wilted beneath the force of his own logic. He knew the real reason their relationship had ended. It burned hot in his memory, piercing his heart like a red-hot dagger. It all fell so fast. And then… and then the next year, he couldn't even begin to make amends. Instead, she abandoned him for Potter; selfish, stuck up, pretentious, arrogant _Potter_. Why?

He knew why. He knew the minute the word _mudblood_ left his lips. Why had he called her that name? It had been his fault. It had been his fault that their friendship had broken and it had been his fault that the Dark Lord targeted her family. And now… now she was dead. Lily—his Lily—was nothing more than a rotting corpse encased in a box in the ground.

Severus wiped his eyes on his robes, peering down at the small photograph of Lily laughing as Harry zoomed about their small living room on a broom. He carefully ripped off the section of James and Harry and threw it to the floor. He only wanted her. He shut his eyes tight. He had to go, the Dark Lord would be expecting him…

As he got up, kicking aside rubbish on Sirius' floor, he thought about his life. It seemed so odd to think that it had been 25 years since that week of paradise. He looked around him, observing the wreckage that he surrounded his life with. What a tangled web he'd spun for himself. No; no that was not right. He hadn't spun anything. He'd just wanted Dumbledore to save her. It was he who had Severus running amok, pretending to be loyal here, there, everywhere. The more he thought of the mess of his life, the more he wanted to be rid of it all. He wanted peace. He wanted solace. He wanted to be done.

Shaking his head, Severus fought to gain control over his thoughts. He was late enough as it was. Once he was satisfied that his mind was once again under his control, Severus took a deep breath and turned on his heel, disappearing from sight. With the one, loud CRACK, Snape had disapparated.

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"_Homenum revelio." Hermione whispered shakily from downstairs. "That was supposed to reveal human presence. There's nobody here but us. Funny, I was sure I heard something…"_

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_A/N 2: I hope you understood that it was all a flashback. This chapter is, of course, set during the seventh book just before the trio arrives at Grimmauld Place. Then again, you're all likely to be geniuses and figured that out. Another story completed! I'm astounded. You should be too-whether it be the good kind of astounded or not-and tell me about how shocked you are by pushing that little green button and reviewing the story! :)_


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